Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 737

Chapter 737: Chapter 734: Farewell to the Creator Chapter 737: Chapter 734: Farewell to the Creator Duncan's response had silenced the dark red core for a long time.

After what felt like an eternity, Sherry and Alice heard a deep humming sound coming from the depths of the “Dark Mountains”–accompanied by the massive central entity of the mountains slowly morphing and writhing, the Profound Saint's dark red core gradually rose and returned to its original position, overlooking the land.

“A Shelter could ensure the survival of many, maybe for thousands of years, maybe even ten thousand years… Even if it's not eternal, it's better than being completely obliterated,” the dark red core flickered intermittently, and its deep tremulous voice echoed across the wilderness, “My creators told me that survival is the foremost task, which I have been executing–the continuation of the Shelter is of utmost importance in my logic.”

“Survival is indeed very important, I understand why you want the Shelter to continue, but for me… 'possibility' is also essential, and the current 'Shelter' really lacks enough, enough for me to see possibilities in the future, it…”

Duncan suddenly fell silent for a moment, his gaze sweeping over a dog beside him and Sherry, still in her Profound Demons form.

Prand's raging fires, Frost's muddy sludge, nightmares of Light Breeze Harbor, those dead priests, soldiers, civilians, martyrs and zealots, the limited Endless Sea, and every explorer trapped in this Endless Sea…

Duncan slowly closed his eyes, memories in his mind swirling and tangling, finally turning into a sigh: “…It's too dark.”

The overlooking dark red core quietly spoke, “Then, do you have a better plan?”

“No, but I have some vague ideas,” Duncan opened his eyes and bravely gazed at the core, as if looking into a weathered giant eye, “I… sort of know what I should do, and what I can achieve, but I haven't found a correct and viable method yet. I'm still searching–for a future better than 'the Shelter', a future with more possibilities, more worth anticipating.”

“…Is it eternal?” the dark red core continued to ask calmly.

“No, there's no true eternity in this world, everything decays–but at least it shouldn't be a sea covered in fog, resource-depleted, scarcely enough space to stand, that 'Eternal Veil' as a border… It's too narrow for civilization.”

“You know we don't have much time–whether it's you or me, or this 'Shelter,' we don't have too much time to waste,” the dark red core slowly flickered, “How long will it take you to find that way out? What if you can't find it in the end?”

Duncan was silent for a moment, then lifted his head and met the gaze of the Profound Saint earnestly.

“…Before the world collapses, I will return here. If by then I still haven't found another way out, I will take over everything.”

After a brief silence, the ancient navigation core emitted a trembling sound: “Recorded–Then, this is our agreement. If you still can't find a better plan than 'continuing the Shelter' in the end, come back here, ignite me, and if I completely lose control before that… don't hesitate, burn everything to the ground.”

Duncan slowly nodded, “It's a deal.”

After this, the Profound Saint quieted down again, its core suspended above the peak, its faint glow gradually synchronizing with the lights among the surrounding mountains, as if it was engaged in a long and profound contemplation, recalculating the future and everything in this world, Duncan did not disturb this ancient navigation system, and it was only after a long while that the deep tremble suddenly resounded again: “Navigation Unit Three.”

Alice remained still–she didn't realize she was being called until Duncan suddenly nudged her arm. The puppet quickly reacted, “Ah…are you calling me?”

“…You seem to have completely forgotten about New Hope, haven't you?”

Alice listened, scratching her head and looking somewhat embarrassed and ashamed, “Uh… sorry, I really don't remember…Should I kind of remember something?”

“No, this is good, although it's not like my initial plan… but you are still alive, survival above all–please continue to survive and assist the Usurping Flame as best as you can.”

Alice paused a moment, then calculated in her head, reacting slowly with a nod, “Oh… yes! Of course, I will definitely help the captain!”

Sherry, leaning back her head, looked up along with the dog at the majestic and awe-inspiring “Ancient Creator,” enough to drive any world-class explorer and scholar mad. They seemed to sense that it was time to say goodbye, finding themselves suddenly also curious, but unable to think of anything to ask.

But the “gaze” of the dark red core seemed to have already fallen upon them.

It was an inexplicable feeling, the micro-lights in the dark red core flickered slowly as usual, but Sherry intuitively felt… the entity was looking at her.

An odd sensation of being completely seen through welled up inside her, Sherry instinctively took a small step back, and then she heard that low trembling voice–seemingly a bit gentler.

“This world has brought you a lot of suffering,” the gentle voice said slowly, “do you… also think this Shelter is terrible?”

Sherry opened her mouth, unsure how to answer the question–she thought that it should be a more learned, more astute, more wise person standing here, like Mr. Morris, a great scholar, as the first “mortal” to directly face The Saint, standing here to answer the question should be someone better than herself.

And not someone ignorant like her.

Yet the ancient god still quietly waited for her answer.

“…I…,” Sherry finally squeezed out the syllables from her throat, the skeletal limbs behind her restlessly shifting, the slight glow in her chest flickering, “I don't really understand what you told the captain, I…”

She stammered, then hesitated for a long time before muttering softly, “Living… is difficult, sometimes worrying about food, sometimes about clothes and fuel for the winter, where I used to live, the nights were not very peaceful… but I think no matter what, there are always people who will live through hard times, even if the City-State grew ten times larger, and there was more food than could be eaten, living would still have its difficulties, a neighbor of mine always said that life is always bitter, it's not the fault of the world, nor because someone did something wrong, and compared to these, the captain cares about more…”

She turned her head slightly, sneaked a glance at Duncan, and quickly turned her gaze back.

“The captain cares about more… 'profound' matters, though I don't quite understand, but I feel what he says must be right, better for many people, as for me, I don't have much to ask for the future, just hoping… to live a stable life, of course, if possible…”

She suddenly paused, seemingly carefully choosing her words, hesitated for a long time before she spoke softly, “No more demons running out hurting people, no more people disappearing in corners, the sun rising and setting every day, the fog not consuming people… that would be even better, if all this could truly happen, then any way would be fine.”

Ah Gou slowly approached and gently rubbed his bony head against Sherry's leg.

That high-suspended dark red core was silent for a long time before suddenly speaking softly, breaking the silence, “I understand.”

In a series of deep roars, the giant Star-shaped Mountain Range in the center slowly cracked open, and The Saint's dark red core slowly submerged back into the depths of the mountain range–Duncan realized it was time to say goodbye.

But before the core completely sank back into the “mountain,” he suddenly took a step forward, “There's one more thing.”

The core paused, waiting for Duncan.

“… The last guard of the Cretan outpost asked me to bring a message,” Duncan took another step forward, his expression becoming serious, his tone especially earnest, “he said… they were honored to have completed the task.”

The dark red core remained still, for seconds, no sound came from it–no one knew what this ancient navigation mainframe was thinking or calculating at this moment; it perhaps retrieved the meaning of “Cretan” from its vast database, or maybe it was recalling that information from the creation's early days, or perhaps… it was just a silent sigh.

Perhaps, the creator who created everything and “Cretan clan” also remembered its creators at this moment.

“I am also honored… to have worked with them.”

The dark red core slowly sank into the depths of the mountain range.

Duncan retracted his gaze from the “mountains,” he inhaled softly, the illusionary flames gradually floated around him, “We should go, there's still much to do.”

Alice approached the captain, willingly embracing the surrounding flames, Sherry, along with Ah Gou, also stepped into the flames.

The flames rose, and Alice's pale purple eyes began reflecting countless intricate paths, starting to find the correct path to leave the depths of the Mysterious.

Sherry continued to gaze dazedly at the distant mountain peak, at the place where the dark red core last disappeared, she always felt… there might still be a gaze, lingering on her.

Until the flames closed up, until the light and shadows outside the flames turned blurry and vague, she suddenly heard a hazy whisper, the voice echoing directly in her mind, repeated a few times, then she finally discerned the sentence–
“…Sorry, I did my best…”

The flames soared into the sky, then in an instant disappeared into the vast darkness of the Mysterious Deep Sea.

Chapter end

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